On D. H. Lawrence’s “The lost girl”

Penguin edition

“THe lost girl” is less well-known among other novels like “Sons and Lovers” and “Women in love”. Nevertheless it does not impinge on the quality of D.H. Lawrence’s work that serves to probe the minds like any psychologist tried to do in the era of 20th century, may it be Freud or Steckel. However, some contrasts one can observe of Lawrence from other psychoanalyst are that his interpretation is more subtle and non-academic based. He seems to be paving of a possible path and predicting the outcome if the girl really does exist in the world. This approach renders his work a softer and non-direct analysis of psychology which is easier to follow and enjoy.

The story describes a girl who was constantly searching for affirmation of her identity and it is through a series of events that happened and unfolded under the pen of Lawrence do we see how the girl developed and thoughts changed. Fundamentally one can observe the protagonist, Alvina’s life was always clouded with tragedies and parting with her closest people. She was uncertain about how her life should be though she had an active role in many decisions in the novel, such as the marriage with the Australian and pursuance of a career as a nurse. On the surface she possessed control over her life but in the deterministic view she was always the lost girl living out in that fantasy and ideal life of hers. I believe that Lawrence was trying to write a novel that discusses the fear in every decision in life and lauded the virtue of courage one has to have to break from the norm. The narration was therefore ended with Alvina forsaking everything, including her loved ones and her literal past, to move to an entirely foreign and hostile land with Ciccio. In another way one can interpret is that Alvina was always seeking unconventional thrills to fill the emptiness of her life that derived from having an incomplete family. The town she was staying also displayed an image of grayish distorted buildings with people following all sort of banal conventions that were all stiff and constraining. However we would never know if the desire for excitement and anxiety did cease or not at all at the open ending of the tale, or is it just another fit that helpless Alvina has to constantly face till death arrives at her bed. The idea of being lost is very much exemplified in a subtle way, the direct way being her going mad eventually I suppose. This very journey with Alvina, all what we have experienced in the words, is meant for someone as lost as Alvina, for only people with that quality can resonate with the protagonist’s struggle as she tried very hard to prevent herself from drowning. “Drowning from what?”, one may ask. I would say it is the reader’s own ocean that he has to care.

It is actually frightening to see today’s generations fall prey to the same uncertainty in lives that simply evades our poor attempts in controlling it. But that is how determinism works, isn’t it?

Vier Minutens (Four Minutes) Review

This is the second time I watched the film and it was still that engrossing, though some unnatural acting skills fluttered here and there, but then again the overall watching experience was a comfortable one.

What the film portrays is of different facets of lives that are woven together, close-knitted but in everyone’s heart exists a hole that cannot be mended, If you look into the hole you see the dark side and sometimes secret of that individual and set you thinking why are they doing this. Taking the warden, who is so blinded by hatred and jealousy that he did everything he could to sabotage the girl’s chance to playing piano. They are narrow minded in the sense that they themselves are the prisoners of inherent nature: violence and vile antagonism against everything except the ego. Some may say it’s far-fetched but I do find a probability of it happening in the real world, because no one is as noble as he claims himself to be. The characters all have a piece of their story to share, of which most successfully build up the characters, but some are left irrelevant that cause doubts in people’s mind. This in turn breaks the continuity in the film and not so wise for a narrative piece.

The acting skills are rather contrived, generally, except for Jenny the protagonist. In fact it seems a bit forced as the actors try to bring out the emotions which do not really resonate with the audience (or is it just me?). For the part where the piano teacher confided in Jenny her sexuality and deplored her to make full use of her talent, Monica Bleibtreu simply over-did it – her heavy breath followed by words laden with unnatural tones to show that she was annoyed – that again makes the audience detach from the film for a moment to think why she has to be so feigned. Also her subplot about her lover does not really integrate into the main plot. Besides telling me she is a lesbian and her lover is perished by fate, all of which do not really constitute any sound reason why she wants Jenny to play piano (or win the concert), I know nothing about the contrast of the two relationships between her and Jenny and her past.

Nevertheless it is up to the audience to interpret and decipher these intriguing stories and decide for themselves if they buy them or not. For me I bought some and really enjoyed watching the film and listening to its beautiful music.

Four Minutes Movie Poster